Electronic device with ultrasonic touch

ABSTRACT

An electronic device with ultrasonic touch is provided. The electronic device includes a display device, an ultrasonic transmission device, an ultrasonic reception device, a substrate, an ultrasonic controller, and a sensing circuit. The substrate is adjacent to the ultrasonic transmission device and the ultrasonic reception device. The ultrasonic controller generates a control signal. The ultrasonic transmission device generates an ultrasonic wave in a direction toward the substrate according to the control signal, and the ultrasonic reception device simultaneously receives the ultrasonic wave according to the control signal through the substrate and generates a sensing signal corresponding to the received ultrasonic wave. The sensing circuit determines a position whether a touch occurs according to the sensing signal to generate a touch signal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional application of and claims prioritybenefit of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/297,752, filed on Mar. 11, 2019,now pending, which claims the priority benefits of Taiwan applicationserial no. 107142735, filed on Nov. 29, 2018. The entirety of each ofthe above-mentioned patent applications is hereby incorporated byreference herein and made a part of this specification.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The disclosure relates to a display technique with a touch function, andin particular, to an electronic device with ultrasonic touch and a microLED display.

Description of Related Art

As technology advances, digital display devices have evolved from theliquid crystal display (LCD) technology, the organic light emittingdiode (OLED) display technology, to the micro LED display technology.With the micro LED technique, the LED is transformed from the originalbacklight device into a self-luminous display device, so that thedisplay device can achieve effects such as a high brightness, a highcontrast ratio, a wide viewing angle, low power consumption, etc.Therefore, in the display device adopting the micro LED technique, eachLED is turned into a pixel point, which greatly increases the number ofLED wafers used.

On the other hand, the display devices are also currently provided withthe touch function to augment their applications. How to integrate thedisplay device adopting the micro LED technique with the various touchtechniques (e.g., capacitive touch, resistive touch, optical touch,ultrasonic touch techniques, etc.) has become one of the directions forresearch of the touch and display techniques.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides an electronic device with ultrasonic touch thatcombines the micro LED display technique and the ultrasonic touchtechnique with each other and integrates the circuits of the twotechniques in the same semiconductor manufacturing process for savingthe cost.

The electronic device of the invention includes a display device, anultrasonic transmission device, an ultrasonic reception device, asubstrate, an ultrasonic controller, and a sensing circuit. The displaydevice is configured to display an image. The ultrasonic transmissiondevice and the ultrasonic reception device are configured to be adjacentto the display device. The substrate is configured to be adjacent to theultrasonic transmission device and the ultrasonic reception device. Theultrasonic controller is coupled to the ultrasonic transmission deviceand the ultrasonic reception device. The ultrasonic controller generatesa control signal. The ultrasonic transmission device generates anultrasonic wave in a direction toward the substrate according to thecontrol signal, and the ultrasonic reception device simultaneouslyreceives the ultrasonic wave according to the control signal through thesubstrate and generates a sensing signal corresponding to the receivedultrasonic wave. The sensing circuit is coupled to the ultrasonicreception device to receive the sensing signal, and the sensing circuitdetermines a position where a touch occurs according to the sensingsignal to generate a touch signal.

The electronic device of the invention includes a display device, anultrasonic transmission device, an ultrasonic reception device, asubstrate, an ultrasonic controller, and a sensing circuit. The displaydevice is configured to display an image. The ultrasonic transmissiondevice and the ultrasonic reception device are configured to be adjacentto the display device. The substrate is configured to be adjacent to theultrasonic transmission device and the ultrasonic reception device. Theultrasonic controller is coupled to the ultrasonic transmission deviceand the ultrasonic reception device. The ultrasonic controller generatesa first control signal at a first time point and generates a secondcontrol signal at a second time point. The first time point is differentfrom the second time point. The ultrasonic transmission device generatesan ultrasonic wave according to the first control signal. The ultrasonicreception device receives the ultrasonic wave according to the secondcontrol signal and generates a sensing signal corresponding to thereceived ultrasonic wave. The sensing circuit is coupled to theultrasonic reception device to receive the sensing signal, and thesensing circuit determines a position where a touch occurs according tothe sensing signal to generate a touch signal.

The electronic device of the invention includes a display device, anultrasonic transmission device, an ultrasonic reception device, asubstrate, a pattern, an ultrasonic controller, and a sensing circuit.The display device is configured to display an image. The ultrasonictransmission device and the ultrasonic reception device are configuredto be adjacent to the display device. The substrate is configured to beadjacent to the ultrasonic transmission device and the ultrasonicreception device. The ultrasonic controller is coupled to the ultrasonictransmission device and the ultrasonic reception device. The pattern isconfigured between the substrate and the ultrasonic transmission deviceand the ultrasonic reception device. The ultrasonic controller isconfigured to generate a control signal to control the ultrasonictransmission device and the ultrasonic reception device. In a case wherethe substrate is not pressed, the ultrasonic wave passes through a gapin the pattern so that the ultrasonic reception device generates asensing signal having a first value. In a case where the substrate ispressed, the ultrasonic reception device generates the sensing signalhaving a second value based on the pattern and the ultrasonic wave. Thesensing circuit is coupled to the ultrasonic reception device to receivethe sensing signal. The sensing circuit determines a position where atouch occurs according to whether the sensing signal is the first valueor the second value to generate a touch signal.

Based on the above, the display device realized by the micro LEDtechnique, the ultrasonic transmission device, and the ultrasonicreception device may be integrated with each other and manufactured inthe same semiconductor manufacturing process. Therefore, in theembodiments of the invention, a plurality of methods are designed tocontrol the ultrasonic transmission device and the ultrasonic receptiondevice to realize ultrasonic touch without affecting the display deviceand meanwhile reduce the installation cost. In an embodiment, bysimultaneously turning on the ultrasonic transmission device and theultrasonic reception device, it is determined whether a touch occursbased on whether the energy of the ultrasonic wave is absorbed by theobject to be detected (e.g., a finger, a touch stylus, etc.). In anembodiment, the ultrasonic transmission device and the ultrasonicreception device are designed to be turned on at different times. Due todeformation resulting from pressing on the glass substrate by the objectto be detected, the transmission path of the ultrasonic wave is changed,which affects whether the ultrasonic reception device receives theultrasonic wave emitted before a predetermined time. Thereby, it can bedetermined whether a touch occurs. In an embodiment, a pattern capableof causing diffraction or interference in the ultrasonic wave isdisposed on the transmission path of the ultrasonic wave. Due todeformation resulting from pressing on the glass substrate by the objectto be detected, the passage path is changed, and thereby, it can bedetermined whether the touch occurs based on the energy change of theultrasonic wave.

To make the aforementioned more comprehensible, several embodimentsaccompanied with drawings are described in detail as follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a circuit diagram of an electronic device according to afirst embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of a display device, an ultrasonictransmission device, an ultrasonic reception device, and a substrate inthe electronic device according to the first embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a display device, an ultrasonictransmission device, an ultrasonic reception device, a substrate, and acarrier substrate in an electronic device according to a secondembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3A is a circuit diagram of an electronic device according to athird embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C are schematic diagrams of a display device, anultrasonic transmission device, an ultrasonic reception device, and asubstrate in the electronic device according to the third embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are waveform diagrams of a plurality of signalsaccording to the third embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5A to FIG. 5B are schematic diagrams of an electronic deviceaccording to a fourth embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B, and FIG. 7 are schematic diagrams of a pattern ofother types in the fourth embedment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram of another electronic device according tothe third embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In the embodiments of the invention, a display device realized by themicro LED technique, an ultrasonic transmission device, and anultrasonic reception device may be integrated with each other andmanufactured in the same semiconductor manufacturing process to therebyreduce the installation cost. Therefore, in the embodiments of theinvention, a plurality of methods are designed to control the ultrasonictransmission device and the ultrasonic reception device to realizeultrasonic touch without affecting the display device. Relevantembodiments conforming to the invention will be described below withreference to the drawings.

FIG. 1A is a circuit diagram of an electronic device 100 according to afirst embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram ofa display device 110, an ultrasonic transmission device 120, anultrasonic reception device 130, and a substrate 140 in the electronicdevice 100 according to the first embodiment of the invention. FIG. 1Ashows the arrangement positions of the relevant elements in the displayplane of the electronic device 100, and FIG. 1B shows the arrangementpositions of the elements in the cross-section of the relevant elementsin the electronic device 100. The electronic device 100 of the presentembodiment has a display function and an ultrasonic touch function andis, for example, a display panel/touch panel of a consumer electronicdevice (e.g., a smartphone, a tablet computer, and a notebook computer)or a display device having a touch function (e.g., a billboard and atelevision).

The electronic device 100 mainly includes a display device 110, anultrasonic transmission device 120, an ultrasonic reception device 130,a substrate 140, an ultrasonic controller (e.g., a gate driver 150 inFIG. 1A), and a sensing circuit 160 (also referred to as a touchsensor). The display device 110 may be a micro LED device producedthrough the micro LED technique. In the present embodiment, the displaydevice 110 shown in FIG. 1A is composed of two transistors (T11 andT12), a capacitor CsL1, and a micro LED uLED1. In other words, thedisplay device 110 is a 2T1C structure. People implementing the presentembodiment may adjust the above circuit structure of the display device110 according to the requirements. For example, the display device 110may be implemented as a 4T1C/5T1C/6T1C structure.

The ultrasonic transmission device 120 and the ultrasonic receptiondevice 130 are disposed in parallel with respect to the horizontaldirection of the substrate 140. The ultrasonic transmission device 120in FIG. 1A includes an ultrasonic transmitter TX11. The ultrasonicreception device 130 in FIG. 1A includes a transistor T13 and anultrasonic receiver RX11. One terminal of the transistor T13 is coupledto a reception line RLx, and another terminal of the transistor T13 iscoupled to the ultrasonic receiver Rx11. The ultrasonic transmissiondevice 120 and the ultrasonic reception device 130 are configured to beadjacent to the display device 110. In the present embodiment, eachdisplay device 110 in the electronic device 100 is used to display onecolor (e.g., red, green, or blue) in each pixel in the image. Thedisplay devices 110 are disposed in column arrangement in a display area112 in FIG. 1A to present the display pixels of the entire column. Theultrasonic transmission device 120 and the ultrasonic reception device130 located in a touch area 122 are disposed beside the display device110 (or the plurality of display devices 110 for presenting the samepixel) in the display area 112. The display area 112 and the touch area122 do not overlap each other. The substrate 140 is in direct contactwith the ultrasonic transmission device 120 and the ultrasonic receptiondevice 130.

The material of the substrate 140 includes glass, or the substrate 140is made from glass as a material. The object to be detected (e.g., afinger 190) may contact one surface of the substrate 140, and theultrasonic transmission device 120 and the ultrasonic reception device130 are disposed on another surface of the substrate 140. A carriersubstrate 142 may be a glass plate or another circuit board. The sensingcircuit 160 is coupled to the ultrasonic reception devices 130 and 130-1via the reception line RLx to receive a sensing signal generatedtherefrom, and determines the position where a touch occurs according tothe sensing signal to generate a touch signal. Accordingly, peopleimplementing the present embodiment can learn which point in the displayplane is touched by the object to be detected based on the touch signalgenerated by the sensing circuit, and then perform a corresponding touchoperation.

In the present embodiment, two pixel areas 180 and 182 among the pixelareas in one column are illustrated to present the display devices 110and 110-1, the ultrasonic transmission devices 120 and 120-1, and theultrasonic reception devices 130 and 130-1. The display device 110-1includes two transistors T21 and T22, a capacitor CsL2, and a micro LEDuLED2. The ultrasonic transmission device 120-1 includes an ultrasonictransmitter TX21. The ultrasonic reception device 130-1 includes atransistor T23 and an ultrasonic receiver RX21. The ultrasonictransmission device 120-1 and the ultrasonic reception device 130-1 areconfigured to be adjacent to the display device 110-1. Peopleimplementing the present embodiment may utilize the circuit structure inthe pixel areas 180 and 182 to realize the display plane of theelectronic device 100. Here, the embodiment mainly describes the pixelarea 180 and the elements therein as examples, and the pixel area 182and the elements therein operate in a manner similar to the pixel area180 and the elements therein.

Here, it is assumed that the following relevant parameters in theelectronic device 100 are adopted, and people implementing the presentembodiment may adjust these parameters according to the requirements.The resolution of the display plane formed by the display devices 110and 110-1 is 1920×1080; the update frequency of the display plane of theelectronic device 100 is 60 Hz; the gate turn-on time of the displaydevice 110 corresponding to each pixel is about 13 μs to 16 μs; the gatedriver 150 in the electronic device 100 updates a row of display deviceseach time, and the turn-on time interval of two adjacent rows of microdisplay devices is about 0 μs to 5 μs. The propagation speed ofultrasonic wave in glass is 6000 m/s. Therefore, in the case where thethickness of the glass is 2 mm to 4 mm, the propagation time ofultrasonic wave through the glass is about 0.67 μs to 1.33 μs.

In particular, in the embodiments of the invention, the display device110 realized by the micro LED technique, the ultrasonic transmissiondevice 120, and the ultrasonic reception device 130 are integrated witheach other and manufactured in the same semiconductor manufacturingprocess to save the installation cost. In detail, the display device 110realized by the micro LED technique requires relevant semiconductormanufacturing process operations (e.g., a “crystal growth” operation)performed on a single crystal silicon material (e.g., a sapphiresubstrate), so that the light-emitting layer in the display device 110can have better luminous efficiency. Then, the semiconductormanufacturing process transfers the completed display device 110 to thecarrier substrate 142 (e.g., a glass substrate or another type ofsubstrate) for subsequent processing. On the other hand, due to factorsof the semiconductor manufacturing process, the ultrasonic transmissiondevice 120 and the ultrasonic reception device 130 also need to betransferred from another substrate to another carrier substrate.Therefore, in the embodiments of the invention, the manufacturingprocesses of the display device 110, the ultrasonic transmission device120, and the ultrasonic reception device 130 are integrated with eachother, and a plurality of methods are designed to realize ultrasonictouch without affecting the display device.

In the first embodiment of FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, by simultaneouslyturning on the ultrasonic transmission device 120 and the ultrasonicreception device 130 located in the same pixel area 180, the ultrasoniccontroller (the gate driver 150) determines whether a touch occurs basedon whether the energy of the ultrasonic wave is absorbed by the objectto be detected (e.g., the finger 190 of FIG. 1B, a touch stylus, etc.).In the present embodiment, the gate driver 150 is used as the ultrasoniccontroller to control the turn-on of the ultrasonic transmission device120 and the ultrasonic reception device 130. The gate driver 150provides corresponding scan signals (e.g., scan signals Sn to Sn+m+1)for each scan line in each display plane. According to the scan signalSn, the display device 110 guides the voltage in a data line DLx to thecapacitor CsL1 via the transistor T11 and controls the brightness of alight 114 emitted by the micro LED uLED1 through the transistor T12. Inother words, the display device 110 displays the pixels in the imageaccording to the scan signal Sn.

In the present embodiment, the display device 110, the ultrasonictransmission device 120, and the ultrasonic reception device 130 in thepixel area 180 are simultaneously turned on by using the scan signal Sn.In other words, the control signal of the present embodiment is the scansignal generated by the timing controller (e.g., the gate driver 150).The control terminal of the ultrasonic transmitter Tx11 is coupled tothe scan signal Sn. The control terminal of the ultrasonic receptiondevice 130 is also coupled to the scan signal Sn. In other words, whenthe scan signal Sn is enabled, the ultrasonic transmitter Tx11 in theultrasonic transmission device 120 generates an ultrasonic wave (asindicated by arrow 124) in the direction toward the substrate 140according to the control signal (the scan signal Sn). The ultrasonicreception device 130 simultaneously receives the ultrasonic wave (shownby arrow 126) through the substrate 140 according to the control signal(the scan signal Sn) and generates a sensing signal corresponding to thereceived ultrasonic wave. On the other hand, people implementing thepresent embodiment shall be aware that, in the present embodiment, thescan signal generated by the timing controller is used as the controlsignal, but in other embodiments, another signal may also be separatelyprovided as the control signal of the ultrasonic transmission device 120and the ultrasonic reception device 130, as long as the ultrasonictransmission device 120 and the ultrasonic reception device 130 areturned on simultaneously.

When the object to be detected (e.g., the finger 190) contacts thesubstrate 140, the ultrasonic wave energy emitted by the ultrasonictransmission device 120 is absorbed by the object to be detected (thefinger 190), so that the ultrasonic reception device 130 whichsimultaneously turned on cannot receive ultrasonic wave that isreflected and has sufficient energy, and thereby the position where thetouch occurs can be learned. In the transmission process of theultrasonic wave, the ultrasonic wave undergoes different energytransmission losses at the time of reflection depending on the differentobjects to be detected. In other words, the interface between differentobjects to be detected and the glass vary in terms of the energythreshold of reflection of ultrasonic wave. The reflectivity of theultrasonic wave at different medium interfaces is associated with theacoustic impedance.

The so-called “acoustic impedance” (represented as “Z”) is associatedwith the speed (represented as “S”) of the ultrasonic wave in the mediumand the density of the medium itself (represented as “D”). Therelationship may be expressed as Equation (1):

$\begin{matrix}{Z = \frac{S}{D}} & (1)\end{matrix}$

For example, assuming that the acoustic impedance of a first medium isrepresented as “Z1”, and the acoustic impedance of a second medium isrepresented as “Z2”, then the reflectivity (represented as “R”) of theinterface formed by the first medium and the second medium may beexpressed as Equation (2):

$\begin{matrix}{R = \frac{\left( {{Z\; 1} - {Z\; 2}} \right)^{2}}{\left( {{Z\; 1} + {Z\; 2}} \right)^{2}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$

The transmittance (represented as “T”) of the interface formed by thefirst medium and the second medium may be expressed as Equation (3):

$\begin{matrix}{T = \frac{4 \times Z\; 1 \times Z\; 2}{\left( {{Z\; 1} + {Z\; 2}} \right)^{2}}} & (3)\end{matrix}$

Here, a list of the commonly used media, the speed (“S”) of ultrasonicwave in the medium, the density (“D”) of the medium itself, and theacoustic impedance (“Z”) is provided as an example:

TABLE 1 Medium S (M/S) D (M/S) Z (10{circumflex over ( )}5) Air 3310.00129 0.000042 Glass 6000 2.4 1.44 Insulating adhesive 1430 0.860.12298 Iron/metal 3400 7.8 2.652 Water/human 1430 1 0.143 tissue fluid

The reflectivity (“R”) and the transmittance (“T”) of the interfacebetween different media can be learned from the above media and thecorresponding acoustic impedances, as presented in Table 2 below:

TABLE 2 Acoustic impedance Reflectivity Transmittance Interface Medium(Z) (R) (T) Interface 1 Air 0.000042 99.99% 0.01% Glass 1.44 Interface 2Iron/Metal 2.652 8.77% 91.23% Glass 1.44 Interface 3 Water/human 0.14367.13% 32.87% tissue fluid Glass 1.44

When the object to be detected does not contact the position where theultrasonic transmission device 120 and the ultrasonic reception device130 are located, since the interface reflectivity (i.e., thereflectivity of the interface 1) from glass to air is 99.99%, theultrasonic wave emitted by the ultrasonic transmission device is almostcompletely reflected and is received by the ultrasonic reception device.In contrast, when the object to be detected contacts the position wherethe ultrasonic transmission device and the ultrasonic reception deviceare located, the interface reflectivity (i.e., the reflectivity of theinterface 2) from glass to iron/metal is 8.77%, or the interfacereflectivity (i.e., the reflectivity of the interface 3) from glass towater/human tissue fluid is 32.87%, which means that the energy of partof the ultrasonic wave is absorbed because the object to be detected(e.g., the touch stylus and the finger 190) formed of iron/metal orwater/human tissue fluid is in contact with the glass. Therefore, theultrasonic wave emitted by the ultrasonic transmission device 120 is notall reflected and only part of the ultrasonic wave is received by theultrasonic reception device 130.

In the embodiments of the invention, the energy threshold may be setbased on the above reflectivity, and the sensing circuit 160 may be usedto compare the value of the sensing signal generated by the ultrasonicreception device 130 with the ultrasonic wave energy threshold todetermine the position where the touch occurs. For example, the energythreshold may be adjusted to a value between 75% and 90%. When the valueof the sensing signal is greater than the ultrasonic wave energythreshold, the sensing circuit 160 determines that no touch hasoccurred. When the value of the sensing signal is less than theultrasonic wave energy threshold, the sensing circuit 160 determinesthat the position where the touch occurs is the position of theultrasonic reception device 130 that generates the sensing signal.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a display device 210, an ultrasonictransmission device 220, an ultrasonic reception device 230, a substrate240, and a carrier substrate 242 in an electronic device 100 accordingto a second embodiment of the invention. The second embodiment issimilar to the first embodiment, and the difference between the two liesin that the arrangement positions among the display device 110, theultrasonic transmission device 120, and the ultrasonic reception device130 in FIG. 1B are different from the arrangement positions among thedisplay device 210, the ultrasonic transmission device 220, and theultrasonic reception device 230 in FIG. 2. The ultrasonic transmissiondevice 220 and the ultrasonic reception device 230 in FIG. 2 are stilldisposed to be adjacent to each other, but the display device 210 isdisposed between the ultrasonic transmission device 220 and theultrasonic reception device 230 and the substrate 240. Accordingly, theultrasonic transmission device 220 and the ultrasonic reception device230 do not block the light of the display device 210, and the ultrasonictransmission device 220 and the ultrasonic reception device 230 canstill determine through the substrate 240 whether contact of the objectto be detected (the finger 190) occurs.

FIG. 3A is a circuit diagram of an electronic device 300 according to athird embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C are schematicdiagrams of a display device 310, an ultrasonic transmission device 320,an ultrasonic reception device 330, and a substrate 340 in theelectronic device 300 according to the third embodiment of theinvention. The display device 310 and the ultrasonic transmission device320 are both similar to the corresponding elements in the firstembodiment. However, the arrangement relationship between the substrate340 and the ultrasonic transmission device 320 and the ultrasonicreception device 330 (as shown in FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C) and the circuitconfiguration (as shown in FIG. 3A) of the ultrasonic reception device330 are different from those in the first embodiment. The ultrasonictransmission device 320 and the ultrasonic reception device 330 in thethird embodiment are designed to be turned on at different times. Due todeformation resulting from pressing on the substrate 340 by the objectto be detected, the transmission path of the ultrasonic wave is changed,which affects whether the ultrasonic reception device 330 receives theultrasonic wave emitted before a predetermined time. Thereby, it can bedetermined whether a touch occurs.

Here, the difference between the first embodiment and the thirdembodiment will be described in detail. Referring to FIG. 3A, anultrasonic controller (a gate driver 350) in the electronic device 300generates a plurality of scan signals (e.g., scan signals Sn to Sn+m+1).The gate driver 350 generates a first control signal (e.g., the scansignal Sn) at a first time point (e.g., a time Tn) and generates asecond control signal (e.g., a scan signal Sn+m) at a second time point(e.g., a time Tn+m). The first time point Tn is different from thesecond time point Tn+m, and the first time point Tn is different fromthe second time point Tn+m by a predetermined time Tm. The ultrasonictransmission device 320 generates an ultrasonic wave according to thefirst control signal (the scan signal Sn). The ultrasonic receptiondevice 330 receives the ultrasonic wave emitted by the ultrasonictransmission device 320 according to the second control signal (the scansignal Sn+m) and generates a sensing signal corresponding to thereceived ultrasonic wave. In other words, the control terminal of thetransistor T13 in the ultrasonic reception device 330 is coupled to thescan signal Sn+m rather than the scan signal Sn. The ultrasonictransmission device 320 is not turned on at the second time point Tn+m.In other words, the ultrasonic transmission device 320 and theultrasonic reception device 330 are designed to be turned on atdifferent times, and the turn-on time of the ultrasonic reception device330 is later than the turn-on time of the ultrasonic transmission device320 by the predetermined time Tm.

Referring to FIG. 3B, FIG. 3B shows the case where the object to bedetected (the finger 190) is not pressed, and the ultrasonictransmission device 320 and the ultrasonic reception device 330 aredisposed to be adjacent to each other and have a deformation distance Hwith respect to the substrate 340. In the present embodiment, the“predetermined time” is designed to be a time interval in which theultrasonic wave generated by the ultrasonic transmission device 320 atthe first time point Tn reaches the substrate 340 (indicated by arrow324) via the deformation distance H and is reflected (indicated by arrow326) to the ultrasonic reception device 330, in the case where theobject to be detected (the finger 190) does not press and deform thesubstrate 140 (FIG. 3B). This time interval is approximately equal tothe predetermined time Tm. In other words, the ultrasonic wave generatedby the ultrasonic transmission device 320 at the first time point Tn isreceived by the ultrasonic reception device 330 at the second time pointTn+m.

Referring to FIG. 3C, FIG. 3C shows the case where the object to bedetected (the finger 190) presses the position, and the deformationdistance H is reduced to less than a predetermined value. In the casewhere the deformation distance H becomes less than the predeterminedvalue due to pressing on the substrate 340 by the object to be detected(the finger 190), the time in which the ultrasonic wave at the firsttime point Tn reaches the substrate 340 (indicated by arrow 324′) fromthe ultrasonic transmission device 320 and is reflected (indicated byarrow 326′) to the ultrasonic reception device 330 is less than thepredetermined time Tm, which causes the ultrasonic wave to reach theultrasonic reception device 330 in advance and then lose its energy. Asa result, the ultrasonic reception device 330 cannot receive theultrasonic wave at the second time point Tn+m. Accordingly, the sensingcircuit 360 can receive the sensing signal of the ultrasonic receptiondevice 330 via the reception line RLx and determine the position wherethe touch occurs based on the presence/absence of the sensing signal togenerate the touch signal.

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are waveform diagrams of a plurality of signalsaccording to the third embodiment of the invention. FIG. 4A and FIG. 4Bshow waveforms of the scan signal Sn, the scan signal Sn+1 (as anexample of the scan signal Sn+m), an ultrasonic wave signal TUngenerated by the ultrasonic transmission device 320, an ultrasonic wavesignal TUnx transmitted to the ultrasonic reception device 330, and asensing signal Rs on the reception line RLx. In the present embodiment,the predetermined time Tm by which the first time point Tn and thesecond time point Tn+m differ from each other is, for example, the timetaken for passing through one scan line. In other words, the second timepoint Tn+m is equal to the time Tn+1. Here, the time interval ofenabling the scan signals (e.g., Sn and Sn+1) between two adjacent scanlines is set as 3 μs, i.e., T2 shown in FIG. 4A. People implementing thepresent embodiment may adjust the above time interval according to theactual situation between the scan lines, for example, as 1 μs to 5 μs,etc.

Referring to FIG. 4A and FIG. 3B at the same time, when no object to bedetected (the finger 190) presses the substrate 340, the scan signal Snis turned on and the ultrasonic wave signal TUn is generated by theultrasonic transmission device 320, and the ultrasonic wave signal TUnis transmitted to the ultrasonic reception device 330 via arrows 324 and326 to become the ultrasonic wave signal TUnx. For example, a time delayT1 between the ultrasonic wave signal TUn and the ultrasonic wave signalTUnx is approximately 6.47 μs. On the other hand, the time T2 ofenabling the scan signals between the two adjacent scan lines is 3 μs,and the time delay T1 is greater than the time T2. Therefore, when thescan signal Sn+1 is enabled, the ultrasonic reception device 330receives a portion of the ultrasonic wave signal TUnx and enables thesensing signal Rs.

Referring to FIG. 4B and FIG. 3C at the same time, when the object to bedetected (the finger 190) presses and deforms the substrate 340, thescan signal Sn is turned on and the ultrasonic wave signal TUn isgenerated by the ultrasonic transmission device 320, and the ultrasonicwave signal TUn is transmitted to the ultrasonic reception device 330via arrows 324′ and 326′ to become the ultrasonic wave signal TUnx. Dueto the decrease in the deformation distance H, a time delay T1′ betweenthe ultrasonic wave signal TUn and the ultrasonic wave signal TUnx isapproximately 0.67 μs. On the other hand, the time T2 of enabling thescan signals between the two adjacent scan lines remains 3 μs.Therefore, the time delay T1′ is less than the time T2. As a result,when the scan signal Sn+1 is enabled, the ultrasonic reception device330 does not receive the ultrasonic wave signal TUnx, and thus thesensing signal Rs is not enabled.

FIG. 5A to FIG. 5B are schematic diagrams of an electronic device 500according to a fourth embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 5Aand FIG. 5B at the same time, a display device 510, an ultrasonictransmission device 520, an ultrasonic reception device 530, a substrate540, and a carrier substrate 542 are all similar to the correspondingelements in the first embodiment. The main difference between the firstembodiment and the fourth embodiment lies in that a pattern 570(including a plurality of downward protruding patterns 571 and aplurality of upward protruding patterns 572) is disposed between thesubstrate 540 and the ultrasonic transmission device 520 and theultrasonic reception device 530.

As shown in FIG. 5A, in the case where the substrate 540 is not pressedby the object to be detected (the finger 190), the ultrasonic wavegenerated by the ultrasonic transmission device 520 passes through thegap in the pattern 570 so that the ultrasonic reception device 530generates a sensing signal having a first value. In contrast, as shownin FIG. 5B, in the case where the substrate 540 is pressed by the objectto be detected (the finger 190), since the downward protruding patterns571 and the upward protruding patterns 572 overlap with each other, theultrasonic wave generated by the ultrasonic transmission device 520undergoes diffraction (e.g., multi-slit diffraction) or interferencebased on a deformed pattern 570′ (including the downward protrudingpatterns 571 and the upward protruding patterns 572), so that the energydistribution of the ultrasonic wave is different from that at the timewhen the touch does not occur. In other words, the downward protrudingpatterns 571 and the upward protruding patterns 572 overlap with eachother and form a new pitch combination (for example, in the pattern570′, the distance between the downward protruding pattern 571 and theupward protruding pattern 572 that are adjacent to each other is 0.5 to1.5 times the wavelength of the ultrasonic wave (preferably designed tobe 1 time)), which causes multi-slit diffraction or interference in theultrasonic wave. As a result, the ultrasonic reception device 530generates a sensing signal having a second value based on the deformedpattern 570′ and the ultrasonic wave. Accordingly, the sensing circuitcorresponding to FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B determines the position where thetouch occurs according to whether the sensing signal is the first valueor the second value to generate the touch signal.

In FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, a distance D1 between two adjacent downwardprotruding patterns 571 or a distance D2 between two adjacent upwardprotruding patterns 572 is preferably designed to be equal to apredetermined ratio (e.g., 2 times) of the wavelength of the ultrasonicwave. People implementing the present embodiment may adjust thepredetermined ratio to 1.5 times to 2.5 times according to therequirements to similarly achieve the effect of the embodiments of theinvention. For example, the transmission frequency of the ultrasonicwave may be designed to be 1000 MHz. If metal (e.g., iron) is adopted asthe material of the pattern 570, the distance/pitch D1 between thedownward protruding patterns 571 and the distance/pitch D2 between theupward protruding patterns 572 that are adjacent to each other may bedesigned to be 68.28 um. If insulating adhesive is adopted as thematerial of the pattern 570, the pitch D1 or pitch D2 may be designed tobe 27.08 um. Under the above conditions, it is easy to cause multi-slitdiffraction or destructive interference in the ultrasonic wave.Alternatively, the width of the downward protruding patterns 571 or theupward protruding patterns 572 may be designed to be equal to apredetermined ratio (e.g., 1 time) of the wavelength of the ultrasonicwave.

FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B are schematic diagrams of a pattern 670 of anothertype in the fourth embedment of the invention. For convenience ofillustration, FIG. 6A (before pressing by the object to be detected) andFIG. 6B (after pressing by the object to be detected) only schematicallyshow the pattern (670 and 670′) between the substrate 540 and theultrasonic transmission device 520 and the ultrasonic reception device530. In FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, one single downward protruding pattern 671and one single upward protruding pattern 672 are provided to form thepattern 670. A width D3 of the downward protruding pattern 671 or theupward protruding pattern 672 is both equal to a predetermined ratio(e.g., 1 time) of the wavelength of the ultrasonic wave. Accordingly,the pattern 670′ can cause single-slit/multi-slit diffraction orinterference in the ultrasonic wave, so that the energy distribution isdifferent from that at the time when the touch does not occur. Forexample, the transmission frequency of the ultrasonic wave may bedesigned to be 1000 MHz. If metal (e.g., iron) is adopted as thematerial of the pattern 670, the width D3 may be designed to be 34.14um. If insulating adhesive is adopted as the material of the pattern670, the width D3 may be designed to be 13.54 um. Under the aboveconditions, it is easy to cause single-slit/multi-slit diffraction orinterference in the ultrasonic wave.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a pattern 770 of another type in thefourth embedment of the invention. In addition to the forms in FIG. 5Ato FIG. 5B and FIG. 6A to FIG. 6B, as the another pattern in the fourthembodiment, the pattern 770 presented in a three-dimensional structureshown in FIG. 7 may also be used to realize the downward protrudingpattern or the upward protruding pattern in the pattern.

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram of another electronic device 800 accordingto the third embodiment of the invention. Different from FIG. 3A, inwhich the ultrasonic transmission device 320 and the ultrasonicreception device 330 are disposed in the same area, FIG. 8 shows thatthe ultrasonic transmission device 320 is disposed to be adjacent to thedisplay device 310, and the ultrasonic reception device 330 is disposedto be adjacent to the display device 310-1. Accordingly, the ultrasonictransmission device 320 is controlled by the scan signal Sn and theultrasonic reception device 330 is controlled by the scan signal Sn+m.Other relevant operations of the elements in FIG. 8 are as described inFIG. 3A and the third embodiment.

In summary of the above, the display device realized by the micro LEDtechnique, the ultrasonic transmission device, and the ultrasonicreception device may be integrated with each other and manufactured inthe same semiconductor manufacturing process. Therefore, in theembodiments of the invention, a plurality of methods are designed tocontrol the ultrasonic transmission device and the ultrasonic receptiondevice to realize ultrasonic touch without affecting the display deviceand meanwhile reduce the installation cost. In an embodiment, bysimultaneously turning on the ultrasonic transmission device and theultrasonic reception device, it is determined whether a touch occursbased on whether the energy of the ultrasonic wave is absorbed by theobject to be detected (e.g., a finger, a touch stylus, etc.). In anembodiment, the ultrasonic transmission device and the ultrasonicreception device are designed to be turned on at different times. Due todeformation resulting from pressing on the glass substrate by the objectto be detected, the transmission path of the ultrasonic wave is changed,which affects whether the ultrasonic reception device receives theultrasonic wave emitted before a predetermined time. Thereby, it can bedetermined whether a touch occurs. In an embodiment, a pattern capableof causing diffraction or interference in the ultrasonic wave isdisposed on the transmission path of the ultrasonic wave. Due todeformation resulting from pressing on the glass substrate by the objectto be detected, the passage path is changed, and thereby, it can bedetermined whether the touch occurs based on the energy change of theultrasonic wave.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the disclosed embodimentswithout departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view ofthe foregoing, it is intended that the disclosure covers modificationsand variations provided that they fall within the scope of the followingclaims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device comprising: a display deviceconfigured to display an image; an ultrasonic transmission device and anultrasonic reception device configured to be adjacent to the displaydevice; a substrate configured to be adjacent to the ultrasonictransmission device and the ultrasonic reception device; an ultrasoniccontroller coupled to the ultrasonic transmission device and theultrasonic reception device and configured to generate a first controlsignal at a first time point and generate a second control signal at asecond time point, wherein the first time point is different from thesecond time point, wherein the ultrasonic transmission device generatesan ultrasonic wave according to the first control signal, and theultrasonic reception device receives the ultrasonic wave according tothe second control signal and generates a sensing signal correspondingto the received ultrasonic wave, wherein the ultrasonic transmissiondevice is not turned on at the second time point; and a sensing circuitcoupled to the ultrasonic reception device to receive the sensing signaland determine a position where a touch occurs according to the sensingsignal to generate a touch signal.
 2. The electronic device according toclaim 1, wherein the first time point is different from the second timepoint by a predetermined time, and a deformation distance is presentbetween the substrate and the ultrasonic transmission device and theultrasonic reception device, wherein when the deformation distance is apredetermined value, at the second time point, the ultrasonic receptiondevice receives the ultrasonic wave generated by the ultrasonictransmission device to generate the sensing signal, and when thedeformation distance is not a predetermined value, the ultrasonicreception device does not receive the ultrasonic wave at the second timepoint and is unable to generate the sensing signal.
 3. The electronicdevice according to claim 2, wherein in a case where the deformationdistance is the predetermined value, a time in which the ultrasonic waveis emitted from the ultrasonic transmission device, reaches thesubstrate via the deformation distance, and is reflected to theultrasonic reception device is equal to the predetermined time, and in acase where the deformation distance is less than the predetermined valuedue to pressing on the substrate by an object to be detected, a time inwhich the ultrasonic wave reaches the substrate from the ultrasonictransmission device via the deformation distance and is reflected to theultrasonic reception device is less than the predetermined time.
 4. Theelectronic device according to claim 1, wherein the display device is amicro LED device, and a material of the substrate comprises glass. 5.The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the first controlsignal and the second control signal are respectively two scan signalslocated in different scan lines generated by a timing controller,wherein the display device displays the image according to the scansignals.
 6. An electronic device comprising: a display device configuredto display an image; an ultrasonic transmission device and an ultrasonicreception device configured to be adjacent to the display device; asubstrate configured to be adjacent to the ultrasonic transmissiondevice and the ultrasonic reception device; a pattern configured betweenthe substrate and the ultrasonic transmission device and the ultrasonicreception device; an ultrasonic controller configured to generate acontrol signal to control the ultrasonic transmission device and theultrasonic reception device, wherein in a case where the substrate isnot pressed, a ultrasonic wave passes through a gap in the pattern sothat the ultrasonic reception device generates a sensing signal having afirst value, and in a case where the substrate is pressed, theultrasonic reception device generates the sensing signal having a secondvalue based on the pattern and the ultrasonic wave; and a sensingcircuit coupled to the ultrasonic reception device to receive thesensing signal and determine a position where a touch occurs accordingto whether the sensing signal is the first value or the second value togenerate a touch signal.
 7. The electronic device according to claim 6,wherein in the case where the substrate is pressed, diffraction orinterference occurs in the ultrasonic wave based on the pattern, and theultrasonic reception device generates the sensing signal having thesecond value based on the ultrasonic wave in which the diffraction orthe interference occurs, wherein the first value is not equal to thesecond value.
 8. The electronic device according to claim 6, wherein thepattern comprises a plurality of downward protruding patterns and aplurality of upward protruding patterns, and a distance between twoadjacent downward protruding patterns or a distance between two adjacentupward protruding patterns is equal to a predetermined ratio of awavelength of the ultrasonic wave.
 9. The electronic device according toclaim 8, wherein the predetermined ratio is
 2. 10. The electronic deviceaccording to claim 6, wherein a width of the pattern is equal to apredetermined ratio of a wavelength of the ultrasonic wave.
 11. Theelectronic device according to claim 6, wherein the pattern comprises adownward protruding pattern and an upward protruding pattern, and adistance between the downward protruding pattern and the upwardprotruding pattern is equal to a predetermined ratio of a wavelength ofthe ultrasonic wave.
 12. The electronic device according to claim 11,wherein the predetermined ratio is 1 .
 13. The electronic deviceaccording to claim 6, wherein the pattern is a three-dimensionalstructure.